We travelled on, quite close to the Norwegian border. We saw the snow still on the mountains there. Not far from there the book are situated, which I'm reading now: the Dina trilogy by Herbjørg Wassmo. More about them in my other blog (sorry - just in Dutch at the moment), but in this second book about Dina's son Benjamin I found this passage which fits in with my weaving stories here. We saw so many of these huge farmhouses with all their outhouses, barns, etc. and so I can imagine what is described here. I also understand from it, that not everybody could afford his or her own loom in the 19th century.

> 'God bless this loom! Such a strong warp beam, with a good handle. Wide, but still running as smooth as a miracle', Stine kept saying.Because nobody should doubt who was the owner of this loom Dina had had Stine's initials carved into the warp beam. She could take it to America, if she wanted.The women came to the farm with yarn, rag strips and daughters to use the loom. For the loom wasn't moved! They stayed in the biggest room of the farmhands' building, actually the farmhands' livingroom. But the men seemed to prefer a weavingroom with women in it, even if that meant that they had to go outside, to the porch, with their stinking pipes.The strange women exchanged rag strips, they helped warping and cutting off the rugs. They laughed, gossiped and sang. They reminded him of fresly churned butter, or of melting snow in wild mountains.The strange women didn't all come at the same time. No, the came like small rippling waves against the landing-stage.<